This is a very challenging and pivotal time for so many people and so many small businesses. We love supporting local and wanted to do our part in showcasing some fantastic small businesses.
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This week we are speaking with Jessica Powell, she is the Owner of First Aid Hero. First Aid Hero is a leading provider of Red Cross Babysitting & Stay Safe courses in the Lower Mainland. Prior to the Pandemic they were training over 4,000 youth per year! They currently offer courses in: home alone, babysitting, stay safe and variety of first aid courses. You can find them on Instagram, Facebook and the Web. They are based out of Surrey, BC but they offer in-person training sessions (including private training sessions) all across the Lower Mainland and now they offer the courses online to anyone in Canada.
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What made you choose this type of business?
I’ve always been interested in first aid and prehospital care, but as my children are growing I see the need for valuable life skills for them; in the way of Red Cross Babysitting and Stay Safe!
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What is your favourite small business (aside from your own)?
There are so many! I love browsing the The Heart or La Belle Vie in Cloverdale and The Contracts Market has really helped me grow my business in the last year with their templates for small business!
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If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
Let things happen naturally… especially during a Pandemic! Push hard, but you can’t force it (it my industry anyway!) Take one step at a time, especially when starting out. Plan your route and know where you want to go, and then just take each day as it comes.
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If applicable, has your business been negatively affected by COVID19? If so how have you coped?
Prior to COVID19 we would gather 30 students in a gym or classroom and teach them these skills, mostly in groups of 3-4 students. When face to face training stopped back in March, we started working to move all of our courses online. Now students receive their course supplies in the mail and meet their instructor and classmates on zoom! If you asked me a year ago, I never would have thought this would be a possibility! Face to face training has been happening again, but classes are generally limited to 10-15 students (depending on the space) and each student has their own supplies to use for the day!
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What are your long term business goals?
I hope to continue to grow First Aid Hero and train even more youth! I want to expand into offering more courses on a regular basis, including adult first aid courses (right now we’re just offering adult courses to groups of 6 or more)
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What is your funniest/weirdest/most memorable experience with a customer or client?
I love when parents message me and tell me how the students have used the skills. One child was able to treat a parent when they burned their finger making breakfast!
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Thank you to Jessica Powell for participating in this week’s Small Business Sunday.
I had the opportunity to sit in and observe how the training sessions go, while my daughter did the home alone course online. Things went really well, and my daughter was quite excited to do the course. The instructor was friendly and great with kids. The group was small, which is probably a good thing when dealing with younger kids. The workbook was easy to understand and instructions and exercises were laid out nicely. I highly recommend having your kids do a home alone course. The course included some basic first aid as well – which they practiced on their dolls. It is a valuable course for kids and at the end the kids had a great sense of pride. My daughter could not wait to call up family to let them know, she is anxiously awaiting her certificate in the mail!
If you are looking for a unique but useful gift for those special kids in your life, this would make a great gift!
If you are a business owner interested in participating please email tina@modernmama.com